1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to horticultural products, more particularly, to growth cells having more than one plant variety of the same or different species rooted therein, horticultural displays, and methods of producing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Asexually reproduced horticultural products, particularly those marketed through retail stores, garden centers, and the like, are typically produced from an unrooted plant cutting from a mother plant at a plant production facility. The unrooted plant cutting is placed in a growth cell or plug containing growth media and nutrients until roots are formed. The rooted cutting, in the growth cell, termed a liner, may then be distributed to a plant grower. The liner is typically transplanted into a container and grown until the plant achieves a growth stage suitable for distribution. At an intermediate growth stage, the potted plant increases in size and develops foliage and is often termed a pre-finished plant. Further growth generally results in flowering (depending on species) and further foliage development, at which stage the plant is considered to be finished Growers generally sell these finished plants to the wholesalers, garden centers, or nurseries for ultimate sale to the general public.
Finished displays of horticultural products often combine a plurality of plants of the same or different species in a single container. The combination of different types of plants in a single container can provide for a pleasing combination of flower color and/or foliage. To prepare a mixed plant finished product, a grower selects either individual rooted cuttings from different species or varieties, or both, or individual pre-finished plants from different species or varieties, or both, and places them together in a single container with sufficient soil and nutrients to sustain growth and/or flowering as finished plants. This involves choosing and combining plants of different species or varieties, or both, that are not yet flowering or sufficiently developed and requires the grower to identify suitable plants that will not only provide an attractive horticultural display together, but that also exhibit compatible growth characteristics with one another. For individual rooted cuttings or pre-finished plants that are not flowering, it is often difficult to determine a combination of plants that will provide an attractive display. Moreover, different plant species and variety types within a given species grow at different rates and require different initial growth conditions. While certain plants may appear attractive together, they may not require sufficiently similar care (water, light, nutrients, etc.). As such, they may not be able to share a common container and achieve a uniform, finished growth state.